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Giving away your soul is not an easy task. It's something we all cherish near and dear and handing it over, well it takes a particular specific person worthy of it.
The record collector has so many emotions and attachments to every record purchased.
I can remember as a young child being raised around a constant turntable in rotation. I was completely spoiled in my folk's abodes as my ears were exposed to the best of the best. from Motown, ska, Disco, and all things in between.
When it's ingrained in you at an early age you start developing your own ears and your own taste for music so it was easy to say that mine came early.
Once my years developed I revolved my life around music, listening to it admiring it, and letting it into the cockles of my heart and my soul.
I was blowing my 1st paychecks from my 1st jobs as a child on records, jumping on busses from Brampton Ontario, heading down to Toronto weekly digging through the bins and blowing it all to ride home on that bus, reading the sleeves of those albums carried so much romance and such a deep connection.
(Anthony on moving day aka shifting boxes of records)
Then you get Those Records home, listen to them over and you interpret the message and the meaning behind it all, what it looks like in your mind's eye and it carries with you for the rest of your life. The SGT Peppers of the world look completely different to each and every one of us. The Strawberry Field, The Angie’s, and Honkey Tonk Women looked different to all of us,
All the while, we share them.
There always comes a time
where you've either ended up at a stage where you need to prune the tree because you have let your perversion for buying records get you into the mix of buying 2 or 3 copies of certain albums or albums or you basically have a combination of that and you've come across a friendship with someone that you love and feel they're worthy of the pruning clippings from that vinyl Vault you call yourself.
From time to time you'll get involved in a relationship that lasts forever, the relationship between friends that are music lovers is no different, you'll be looking at your collection and you have to move some things around, and that's when you decide to share a little piece of your soul with that person
It's almost like a greasing of the wheel for record collectors, it's part perversion part obsession, part addiction, and all good.
Over my course of collecting, I have executed that process where I have someone in my life, like a friend, a collector, and I've decided to just part with some of those doubles and some that aren't getting too much rotation and hand them over those hopes, dreams, inspirations, and the message of the artist, knowing they will resonate.
That came to me twice last week, In this article, I'll be speaking of the 1st,
a dear friend who is definitely record obsessed is DJ Allen Best.
We had met completely organically on the scene in the entertainment circuit, We had so much common ground, sharing the same ears, he was an ex-pat of the cockney region, and obviously, the friendship developed naturally.
(Allan playing just of Adelaide st , Toronto)
Vinyl records continue to have their moment.
Their sales jumped 61% last year to $1 billion, the most since 1986, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) said on Thursday.
At the same time, compact disc sales jumped 21% to $584 million, marking the first year-over-year increase since 2004, the report added.
is a consequence of growing nostalgia for old formats and the unique sound quality of vinyl. Collecting vinyl is also big business. Auction sites are selling their collectible vinyl for far above rummage sale prices. At any given moment, there may be more than six thousand collectible Beatles albums for sale on eBay. Some have sold for thousands of dollars. The Beatles White Album is reportedly the album bought and sold the most in vinyl. Artists from the era when LPs dominated music, such as the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, James Brown, Pink Floyd, and Elvis Presley are highly sought after. So are the vinyl records of artists associated with the CD era, like Nirvana, Radiohead and the White Stripes. There is also a keen interest in Northern Soul, Motown records, old blues recordings as well as jazz, punk and indie vinyl records.
(Allan's garage sales)
For some collectors
the allure is the picture sleeves themselves, some of which are worth more than the record that they hold. Others are drawn to actually owning a physical product, not just a digital file. Research suggests vinyl lovers enjoy the physical interaction required to actually play the record album -- the cleaning of the disc, the act of putting the stylus on the grooves, and the fact that you can see the music as it plays.
Some people collect vinyl because they want a piece of their past. Others, from a new generation, have found the ambiance and sound of vinyl to their liking. They have discovered the special allure of vinyl's variations: the limited editions, colored vinyl, picture discs, audiophile records (including 180-220 gram), the album cover artwork, and the sound.
"There's nothing as glamorous to me as a record store. When I recently played Amoeba in LA, I realized what fantastic memories such a collection of music brings back when you see it all in one place. This is why I'm more than happy to support Record Store Day and I hope that these kinds of stores will be there for us all for many years to come. Cheers!"
Colin Meloy (The Decemberists)
"I don't know what I would do without indie record stores. Having grown up in a town without them, I can tell you that it's no fun to shop for indie records at chain box stores. Independent record stores like Sonic Boom in Seattle, Rockin Rudys in Missoula and 2nd Avenue in Portland were holy golden shrines to me growing up. Actually, they still are."
"Record stores keep the human social contact alive ... Without the independent record stores, the community breaks down with everyone sitting in front of their computers."
There are seven types of record collectors
The Lifer: Lifers never stopped collecting vinyl and have a section of their homes dedicated to what they’ve accumulated. Lifers are the most skilled crate diggers on earth, able to smell a rare copy of The White Album a mile away. They schedule their lives around garage sales, flea markets, and Craigslist ads. They know what just about everything is worth, which gives them a leg up when shopping. They’ll find that gem in their buddy’s Grandma’s basement for $2 and sell it for $200. They love music, but they love the hunt even more. I’m not a Lifer, but they are fascinating to watch in the wild.
The Obsessive: Obsessive record collectors own just about everything they can get find that is enjoyable or collectible. This type of collector not only has more albums than they know what to do with, but they also can’t pass up a re-issue of an album they already own. They can’t pass up anything actually, and restraint is NOT buying records each and every day. An obsessive’s collection is about 20–30% items they’ve yet even to unwrap. I’m not obsessive, but they influence me. I think to myself, “well at least I don’t own THAT much, I can justify these purchases.” I love obsessive collectors, but don’t want to be one.
The Completist: I’m a bit of a completist. I have a handful of artists that I “need” to own every item from their catalog, and maybe even every side project or guest appearance as well.
The Audiophile: You know this guy. He’s got the best system around, and only listens and buys the most pristine pressings of every album. He’s also obsessed with who pressed an album and if it was mastered digitally or analog. (I’m caring about this more and more.) He’s able to pinpoint who played on what album and will lecture you on why 180-gram albums are overrated. And he probably has a stack of 78s to boot. I sort of want to be this guy but have no self-restraint.
The Casual Collector: This is the average collector. They buy up a handful of favorites when they start collecting and add 3–5 titles per year, some new, some old. This person is also probably the sanest of the bunch.
The Limited Edition Collector: There was a time when I was attempting to run for president of this group. This group of collectors buys whatever is “limited to” or “hand numbered” or “pressed on cotton candy splattered, translucent, 200-gram vinyl”. (Some of you just got excited.) Like completists, there is no consideration given to the number of copies already owned of an album, as long as it’s a version they don’t already have. This is a sickness from which I’m currently recovering.
The Nostalgist: Nostalgists are coming out of the woodwork right now. They are buying their first record player ever or getting back in the game after riding the CD wave for decades. Nostalgists only buy the hits or their favorite albums from the past. They don’t care about colored vinyl or numbered copies; they just want that copy of Rumors to toss on the table whenever they feel the need.
Chances are, Allan Best is a few, if not most of those. and there are plenty of other categories he falls under of his own.
(Allan Bests "just Soul and Disco collection')
Last week, it is safe to say Allan was going through that pruning process of handing over his soul to me, with a mix from the pages in his musical talking book. to which I am grateful with this haul
It is that lovely gesture of receiving them, that has me now in possession of some of the real estate in his Soul, chapters that I will now receive and endure.
Allan has been producing different mixes, with different genres for BDM for some time now. To hear a bit of the legends soul, he has compiled a new session for you to check out below.
Just click the picture below
Don't stop listening, don't stop buying, and never stop sharing,
May good juju find you
Anthony